Tune in to Comcast SportsNet tonight for a celebration of Frank Thomas' Hall of Fame career! At 6:30, catch the hour-long documentary "Welcome to Cooperstown: Frank Thomas".

Frank Thomas played just 34 games in 2005, and he was left off the playoff roster as the White Sox went on to win the World Series.

It was about as unfair a circumstance as could have been imagined for a player who has been with the franchise for a decade-and-a-half, had won two MVPs and amassed 448 home runs in what wound up being a Hall of Fame career.

The Big Hurt, who suffered a fractured left foot that ended his season in July, threw out the first pitch before Game 1 of the ALDS against the Red Sox.

And as he watched from the sideline, he admitted it hurt watching his team get to the top without him.

"It was damaging to me, not to be on that field in 2005," Thomas said. "But I saw something special and it was part of being a team and I had grown up a lot. And I had been in the game a long, long time and I had accomplished everything except getting a ring."

His teammates picked him up, to be sure. They swept the Astros to win the World Series, ending Thomas' White Sox career in perfect fashion.

"They got me to the finish line, they got me a ring, and I was so excited about that season," Thomas said. "It was bittersweet."